Spending policy hinges on tonight's result

Last updated : 08 August 2006 By Chris Parry
If we get a good result tonight in Zagreb, I'm fairly certain that the one (or two) players that he has earmarked will be given the green light.

As to who those players are, I don't have a clue.

I don't go for the Ribery speculation - We're not desperate for a player of his type.

Curtis Davies of West Brom might still be an option - The 'new contract' story that came out a couple of weeks ago could well be a ruse cooked up between the two clubs in order to deflect other suitors until such time as we were more certain of our Champions League 'revenue stream' being on tap.

More interesting is the Cole / Gallas situation, and who knows what's going on there. Cole is obviously not travelling to Zagreb and is clearly on the way out of the door, but I'm convinced that we won't let him go unless either the right money is on the table, or Gallas moves the other way.

All of this stuff should pan out one way or another in the next few days, but much of it depends upon tonight's game. It's not going to be easy, given that our squad is threadbare following the summer departures and because of inujuries.

Here's a list of players who won't be there for one reason or another:

Lehmann, Clichy, Ljungberg, Lauren, Henry, Pires, Campbell, Cole, Walcott and Diaby.

And those that will:

Almunia, Poom, Eboue, Toure, Djourou, Cygan, Fabregas, Flamini, Hoyte, Gilberto, Song, Hleb, Reyes, Aliadiere, Van Persie, Traore, Adebayor, Rosicky.

Where's the experience?